LeBron James joing the Lakers as a free agent is now more of a possibility than it woul dhave been had the Miami Heat won the NBA title. ALAN DIAZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Lakers never have been closer to adding LeBron James than they are right now.

How’s that for offering some hope, Lakers fans? Figured it would be a good idea, seeing how the last hint of hope left your team the same day Dwight Howard did.

Or was it the day Phil Jackson departed? Or the day Phil Jackson didn’t return? Hard to tell, with so many reasonable choices.

I’m not saying James-to-the-Lakers is going to happen. I’m not saying this is something James seriously would ponder. I’m not saying the Lakers – with their salary-cap considerations – could even make this happen.

But I am saying it has to be more of a possibility today than it would have been had the Miami Heat done something in the NBA Finals other than become traffic pylons.

Hey, when you’re trying to present hope, sometimes you have to soften the focus so much so as to blur reality.

Who understands that better than Lakers fans, their reality having been blurred now for the better part of three seasons? That is, you know, the best way to watch Chris Kaman play basketball these days, through blurry eyes.

Had the Heat three-peated as opposed to retreated, there’s no way James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would have opted out of their contracts with the intention of leaving. Now, anything’s possible, as the Spurs just reminded us.

As unlikely as it remains, the mere idea of James coming to the Lakers is interesting to contemplate, especially now that we’re left with only baseball to occupy our otherwise-idle minds. The prospect of 10 straight weeks of nothing but Josh Hamilton is daunting.

Oh, there’s also the World Cup, an event that is largely unfamiliar yet also strangely intoxicating. This soccer tournament has people of all ages, colors and creeds enraptured with subjects that otherwise would pass unnoticed.

Honestly, I used to go weeks, even months without once thinking about Ghana. Suddenly, I find myself clinging to every bit of information I can get on Jozy Altidore’s hamstring. Again, being honest, 10 days ago, I would have believed you had you told me his name was Altidore Jozy.

Kobe Bryant is in Brazil watching the World Cup, apparently a sign that the Lakers indeed aren’t consulting him in their ongoing coaching search. But the team hasn’t had a coach since April and, technically, doesn’t need one till October.

By then, Bryant will be back and, in all likelihood, making cryptic comments about the pace with which the Lakers are progressing, as his knees continue to age by the workout.

There have been reports that they’re waiting to make a coaching hire until seeing what happens in free agency, until, presumably, they have a shot at rebuilding sooner rather than later.

Doesn’t really matter, seeing how all the Lakers’ known candidates aren’t going anywhere anyway, and what does that tell you about the Lakers’ known candidates?

Among the names that are public, Byron Scott is the only one capable of exciting season-ticket holders. I mean, Alvin Gentry is as good a guy as there is in the NBA, but he’s not going to rally a fan base so cool and aloof that it refuses to wear those matching T-shirts the NBA issues for home playoff games.

It’s the middle of June and the Lakers don’t have a coach, something that seems almost unthinkable for a franchise that, not long ago, was still being presented as a prized travel destination, the Barbados of basketball.

The opportunity to lead one of the most storied teams in NBA history would seem like an appealing job. Imagine the New York Yankees waiting around to hire a manager because their options were so tepid.

At the moment, however, that storied team has only three players under contract for next season, one of whom is Bryant, an aging, maniacal competitor once famously deemed “uncoachable” by the NBA’s most accomplished championship coach.

But that was a totally different era. Back then, the Lakers were winning titles.

Only two NBA teams still currently lack head coaches, which means the Lakers officially are associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and you’d much rather be linked to the haves than the Cav-nots.

But then, perhaps it’s the Cavaliers who find themselves associated with the Lakers, another position few organizations today would envy.

Interestingly, Cleveland also is a spot James could end up, so many people convinced he’ll one day return to his home.

It’s all worth watching over the next few weeks, the Lakers eventually forced to name a coach because every team has to, and James making another big decision, this one, let’s hope, not over-produced into a TV show.

Beyond that, there’s the U.S. soccer team and its much-anticipated match against Portugal, a country that, until this very moment, hadn’t entered my mind since about, oh, junior year of high school.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.